2. amps-preamps
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Phonostage/preamp recommendations. Parasound JC3 Jr.?

Hello all. After searching for hours and not quite understanding if I’m processing the information right, I figured I would sign up ask the question directly with my specific information. Obviously new to home audio so please go easy. I bought a "new to me" Sota Sapphire with a Sumiko Premier FT-3 tonearm and Dynavector DV-10X5 cart. I leveled it out and set up the arm. Hooked it up to my Denon DRA-800H receiver (which says it has a phono input) paired up with Polk RTI A3 bookshelves. Everything "works" fine. Highs are clean and crisp. No funky sounds or anything like that so overall success. My issue comes with the overall loudness of the playback (having to almost max the volume at 70 before achieving listenable levels) and the lack of bass and overall dimension in the music. Not having a sub and understanding they are only bookshelves I don’t expect the world of them but I was thinking it should sound better than my bluetooth Bose Soundlink? Being an MC cart the person a bought the turntable from suggested I could benefit from running a dedicated phonostage before the Denon. The Parasound Jr. looks good giving the option to switch from MM to MC and seems to have a good fanbase.  Am I on the right track to a decent starter system? Any recommendations? looking for something I won’t have to upgrade for a while, but not looking to sell my bike either. Please help school me on this rabbit hole I’ve ventured into! Also not opposed to tubes, but I’m sure that’s a whole other world I shouldn’t be exploring quite yet. Thanks in advance.

Recap on what I have:
Sota Sapphire
Sumiko Premier FT-3
Dynavector DV-10X5
Denon DRA-800h
Polk RTI A3
tommyd902688
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,807 posts
 
Example I may or may not want an MM cart in the future or a different MC and I would want to buy something now that can accommodate a fairly large variety of options vs something that’s more specific to one type of setup. Buy once cry once if you will...with limitations of course.
@tommyd902688

FWIW Dept.:

SUTs are not all that specific. They will require loading at the output, depending on the cartridge used and the SUT in use. Jensen transformers makes some of the best for this purpose and also have a pdf on the correct loading for the transformer (assuming also that the input of your Denon is the 47K standard).

However I would have expected a cartridge with 2.5mV to be no worries in this situation- and since you are experiencing weak bass and low output that suggests to me that something is amiss rather than you're actually needing a different phono preamp. I would investigate your tone arm setup first to make sure it really is right! For example the arm height can mess with the bass as can the platter pad itself. I have also seen damaged cartridges where they had low output and no bass because the magnetic motor has been damaged, probably from being dropped. I would exhaust these issues first before buying another phono preamp- if you did buy one and you still had the same problem I'm guessing you would not be happy about that.



tommyd902688 OP
9 posts
 
Atmasphere: I purchased the zphono xrm yesterday. I was going to update everyone tonight after hooking it up. If your theory is correct and the tonearm is not set properly, or the cartridge is dameged then I would not exactly be pleased. I could always return the zphono at that point. I will look into the height of the tonearm tonight when I get home from work and update you. Being pretty new to this I will admit I hadn't even thought to check that. The person I bought the table from had It set and I suppose I just figured it was good. 
tommyd902688 OP
9 posts
 
So the tonearm is indeed at the correct height and everything is hooked up. There is a major improvement already. I played around with some of the settings and so far I've run into some interesting findings...
1. I tend to like the sound with the mono switch on. Regardless of the record being stereo or mono.
2. The MC section of the pre amp has 50db gain or 60db. I'm having trouble finding a balance. Recommendation from dynavector is 50db with 1000h ohmz load. So that's where I started. It seemed fine. And playing with the knob up or down didn't improve the sound, and actually degraded in most cases. Then I decided to switch to 60db gain and see what I get. What a difference! It seemed great when I turned it down to around 150-300 ohmz. But in some of the high lyric sections I got some breaking up and crackling. So it seems Im between ok sound at 50db with the impedence all the way up, or pretty good sound at 60db with it cranked all the way down and the occasional crackle pop. What do you guys make of that? 

Anyway thanks to all for your input and suggestions. It is playing much better overall regardless of which setting I put it on. And I no longer feel like I made a terrible mistake buying the Sota! I'm going to be spending a lot of time surfing these pages learning as much as I can through my hifi journey. Thank you all agian.
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
4,987 posts
 
Usually, high output moving coils are designed to run into a MM section, not a MC section. Your overloading it.

Also, did you hook up your new phono stage to the phono input, or any other high level input, (i.e. Aux, tape, CD, etc)?  That's where it should be, (high level input, NOT phono).
tommyd902688 OP
9 posts
 
Its hooked into the CD input on the reciever. So plug the turntable output into MM and give that a try? 
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